Instant Analysis: Saints offense too much for Panthers again

In an almost mirror image of Week 3, the Saints offense was too potent for the Panthers to handle, and Carolina fell to New Orleans, 31-21.

The loss dropped Carolina to 8-4. The Saints completed the season sweep of the Panthers and now lead the NFC South at 9-3. Drew Brees was strong through the air again, and the Mark Ingram/Alvin Kamara combo continued to decimate opponents.

Here’s a rundown of the Panthers’ performance in all three phases.

Offense

Carolina’s offense was sluggish throughout the game, save for a strong opening possession.

The Panthers had four drives between the two touchdown drives in the first half. Zero total first downs. That was pretty much the sign of how the rest of the game went.

On the opening drive of the second half, a missed neutral-zone infraction penalty led to a sack from A.J. Klein and another three-and-out.

Ken Crawley contained Devin Funchess all game. He was targeted seven times, catching four passes for 60 yards but dropped a key pass on third down and caught another short of the marker on fourth down. Funchess took advantage of a missed interception attempt by Crawley to score with under four minutes to play, cutting New Orleans’ lead to 31-21.

Matt Kalil continued to struggle, including a negated first-down conversion and a personal foul later in the game on Cam Jordan.

Newton finished 17-of-27 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns, adding 51 yards rushing on six carries. Stewart carried 11 times for 45 yards and a touchdown. Christian McCaffrey rushed six times for 16 yards and also had 33 yards receiving on five catches and a touchdown.

Defense

The Saints ran circles around the Panthers. Both Ingram and Kamara moved the chains at will. Ingram broke off a 72-yard run that led to a Brees touchdown pass to Michael Thomas (five catches, 70 yards, one touchdown), while Kamara scored two touchdowns, including a pretty one where he broke a few tackles on his way to the end zone from 20 yards out.

They combined for 145 yards on 23 carries and three touchdowns. And on the receiving end, they totaled 11 catches for 103 yards.

Carolina’s defense also missed some big opportunities to get the Saints off the field. A Julius Peppers penalty on a play that would have brought up fourth down led to the Thomas touchdown. Ingram’s sheer power helped the Saints convert a third down after the Panthers seemingly had him stopped a few yards short of the marker.

Fittingly, it was Kamara going for 22 yards to effectively end the game right before the two-minute warning.

Special Teams

Graham Gano connected on all three of his extra-point attempts. Palardy punted fives times, averaging 43 yards per punt but struggled and fumbled once. Kaelin Clay returned three punts for an average of 7.3 but fumbled a punt in the fourth quarter that effectively ended the comeback attempt. Fozzy Whittaker returned two kickoffs for an average of 21 yards.